Indonesian air investigators today sifted through the charred debris of a military transport plane that crashed into homes before bursting into flames, killing more than 100 people.

Indonesian air investigators today sifted through the charred debris of a military transport plane that crashed into homes before bursting into flames, killing more than 100 people.

Investigators were trying to work out why the C-130 Hercules, which was carrying 112 crew and passengers including soldiers and their families, came down in East Java province.

At least 101 people were killed in the crash, which completely burned out much of the plane and left chunks of fuselage strewn across a rice paddy near the city of Magetan, air force spokesman Bambang Sulistio told AFP.

The dead included two residents of Geplak village who were hit as the plane smashed into the ground, he said. There were 15 survivors.

The plane was flying from the capital Jakarta to eastern Papua province via Magetan. An air marshal -- the air force's equivalent to a general -- and his wife were among those killed in the crash.

Several witnesses said they heard loud booms in the sky before the Hercules hit the ground, smashing through houses and rolling into a rice field in flames.

One man reportedly said he saw a wing fall from the plane while it was still in the air.